GeneaBlogie

Document Analysis Gives Clues Recently, I wrote in this space that a correspondent had offered certain documents related to the Revolutionary War pension application of one William Manson. I’ve now received and analyzed those documents. I’m excited by what this trove suggests and I’m grateful to Carolyn Lambert, a Midwestern family historian, for her generosity in sharing the documents. A …Continue reading →

1888 marriage license of James William Long and Mary Elizabeth Johnson. This image can be viewed in greater resolution as a TIFF file or with additional pages as a PDF file at the superb site of the Jackson County, Missouri, Department of Records. James William Long and Mary Elizabeth Liza Jane Johnson were married 118 years ago today. James, born …Continue reading →

Peach State Site Has Much to Offer On my 2005 research trip to Georgia, I had really hoped to get to the Georgia State Archives in the Atlanta suburb of Morrow. I’d heard from several folks that it would be a worthwhile visit. Unfortunately, time and other circumstances conspired to keep me away from Morrow. But Georgia Secretary of State …Continue reading →

California Provides Speedy Mail Service Although GeneaBlogie is based in California, most of my research is in other states. Recently, however, I had occasion to order a California death certificate. Frankly, I was dreading the experience. It couldn’t be done online and there’s no walk-in counter at the state office that processes the requests. I was prepared for a months-long …Continue reading →

A native of Virginia, Bernadine Coles Gines earned a bachelors degree from Virginia State College and an MBA from New York University in 1947. In 1954, she became the first black woman to be certified as a CPA in the State of New York. She and her sister, Ruth Coles Harris, were among the very first black CPAs in the …Continue reading →

Patience is the Key to this Work I’d begun to feel that perhaps there were some things I’d simply never know about my ancestors. Indeed, that is likely. But patience is the key to this work. I have described before the descent of my family from a woman named Charlotte Manson, most likely the daughter of Scots-Itrish immigrants probably born …Continue reading →